yep after reading all of these comments i am now sure i have whooping cough. I have had it since early jan and it has tailed off a fair bit in terms of severity of coughing. I went to the doctor and he thought I did not have it but gave me two courses of antibiotics just in case. Because it was a dry cough and not productive he was of the opinion it was a viral infection. Those antibiotics did not seem to make any impact on the coughing and thereby seemingly reinforcing the original diagnosis of it being viral and not pertussis which is bacterial.

However, now my wife has just had it confirmed today that she has caught Whooping Cough.

Now i am realising that I should have got a second opinion earlier and i will simply have to ride this out.

In terms of coughing fits it matches in pretty well with cyclic coughing being easily triggered and it being powerful enough to make eyes water and vomit at times. This however has reduced in severity to the point that i might hesitatingly ride to work tomorrow (7km). i am hesitant though as i know that my lung function is reduced and it dies not take too much for a coughing fir to be triggered. Not something that i want on my bike........

Also - i have found that the cough supressant Rikenan works fairly well but it is pretty strong and you genrally have to ask for it.

giwi2 wrote: This however has reduced in severity to the point that i might hesitatingly ride to work tomorrow (7km). i am hesitant though as i know that my lung function is reduced and it dies not take too much for a coughing fir to be triggered. Not something that i want on my bike........

bugger...........

My doctor banned me for two months from riding until the whooping cough had finally disappeared for good. One ride that I snuck in convinced me he was right!

yeh rode to work today and return. About 7 km each way. Had to keep to less than 25km/hr or so otehr wise breathing rate lifted and coughing reflex kicked in. Was tired after 7km before Xmas that would have to have been more like 100km or more at a good pace to feel the same.

Worth the effort to know and I think i have a few weeks to go yet to get more lung function back on line.

giwi2 wrote:yeh rode to work today and return. About 7 km each way. Had to keep to less than 25km/hr or so otehr wise breathing rate lifted and coughing reflex kicked in. Was tired after 7km before Xmas that would have to have been more like 100km or more at a good pace to feel the same.

Worth the effort to know and I think i have a few weeks to go yet to get more lung function back on line.

giwi2 wrote:yeh rode to work today and return. About 7 km each way. Had to keep to less than 25km/hr or so otehr wise breathing rate lifted and coughing reflex kicked in. Was tired after 7km before Xmas that would have to have been more like 100km or more at a good pace to feel the same.

Worth the effort to know and I think i have a few weeks to go yet to get more lung function back on line.

A few weeks and a couple of teaspoons of cement!

No cement, rest. I was doing the same thing while suffering from whooping cough and it ended up turning into pneumonia. It's one thing being a hard man and quite another being a dead man.

I skied with it. Many people stopped worried thinking I was dieing when I broke out in a coughing fit. This was before I knew what it was. I would also say rest is the best idea you get over it quicker. Not much use riding if you can only ride at 30-50%.

agreed - it is frustrating though. Basically have been off therbike since Jan second so a few weeks more won't hurt.

my wife now has it despite trying to avoid this. Timing has bee bad though as she just took delivery of an S-works Amira that is now hanging on the wall while she sits in the house quarantined from the world for the next week as per doctors orders........

giwi2 wrote:agreed - it is frustrating though. Basically have been off therbike since Jan second so a few weeks more won't hurt.

my wife now has it despite trying to avoid this. Timing has bee bad though as she just took delivery of an S-works Amira that is now hanging on the wall while she sits in the house quarantined from the world for the next week as per doctors orders........

Took me >three months to fully recover. The "100 day cough" was pretty damn accurate.

Well, I'm pretty much over whatever it was I had but it took the best part of six or seven weeks to get right. Had my first ride back in three months yesterday -- rode almost 30km -- and I'm happy to say I wasn't too far off my old pace.

I had it for about 6 weeks ... 3 weeks of what I thought was post-viral cough and then another 3 weeks after seeing the doctor and commencing treatment. My doc put me on two courses of antibiotics and also prescribed Pulmicort - a steroid inhaler used as a preventative by asthmatics (I do not have, and have never been diagnosed with, asthma). The Pulmicort certainly seemed to help. I was back to full strength about two weeks after that, so 8 weeks in total.

So for those who cop the Pertussis diagnosis, it might be worth asking for a script for Pulmicort as well as the antibiotic.

matagi wrote:I had it for about 6 weeks ... 3 weeks of what I thought was post-viral cough and then another 3 weeks after seeing the doctor and commencing treatment. My doc put me on two courses of antibiotics and also prescribed Pulmicort - a steroid inhaler used as a preventative by asthmatics (I do not have, and have never been diagnosed with, asthma). The Pulmicort certainly seemed to help. I was back to full strength about two weeks after that, so 8 weeks in total.

So for those who cop the Pertussis diagnosis, it might be worth asking for a script for Pulmicort as well as the antibiotic.

giwi2 wrote:yeh rode to work today and return. About 7 km each way. Had to keep to less than 25km/hr or so otehr wise breathing rate lifted and coughing reflex kicked in. Was tired after 7km before Xmas that would have to have been more like 100km or more at a good pace to feel the same.

Worth the effort to know and I think i have a few weeks to go yet to get more lung function back on line.

A few weeks and a couple of teaspoons of cement!

Karma 1 v paulz nil...following above tongue in cheek comments, I succumbed to the dreaded whoop. About a month off the bike and at least 3 weeks of feeling rubbish, things are on the improve. I have been out on the bike 3 times now...rides all less than 30km and avg speed under 27km/hr. Beggining to feel good again.

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